Did Ya Know?... Santa
will be at Show-Me Scrapbooking on Saturday,
December 1, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for a
Christmas Open House

Did Ya Know?... The 35th
Annual Carthage Christmas Parade, sponsored by
the Carthage Technical Centers SkillsUSA,
will be held Monday, December 3rd at 7:00 p.m.
The parade will begin on the corner of Chestnut
and Main and proceed north on Main, circle the
Carthage Square. Grand marshal for the parade is
Neel Baucom.

Did Ya Know?... An arts
and crafts fair will be held at Evangel Assembly
of God, Friday Nov. 30th from 9am-8pm and Sat.
Dec. 1st from 9am-5pm. Booth space is available.
$30 for both days. Chili and Chicken noodle soup
will be served Friday starting at 5pm. $5 with
dessert and a drink. Call Starla at 359-9223 or
Betty at 417-850-5953 for more info.

The good news is that we see a
light at the end of the economic tunnel. The bad
news is that its a homeless man with a
flashlight looking for food.

How come clothes that are tight
get tighter in the wash? And those that are loose
get looser?

Last Christmas my son gave me
something Ive wanted for a very long time -
my car.

1907INTERESTING MELANGE. A Chronological Record of Events as they have
Transpired in the City and County since our last Issue.

Some Extensive
Improvements.

Thos. H. Hackney is making
extensive improvements to the old Byron Morgan property,
at the corner of Garrison avenue and Macon street, which
he purchased a few weeks ago from the Turner estate. A
new roof was put on first and now the inside of the house
is being thoroughly remodeled and renovated. The house
has been plumbed for gas and water and a contract for
electric wiring has been let. The cellar has been
enlarged and the lawn will be raised considerably higher
with the dirt excavated. When the last touches have been
made to the property it will be one of the most
comfortable homes in the City.

D.A. Frayser recently
resigned his position as postmaster at Vinita, Indian
Territory, on account of ill health, and has gone to
Lampasas, Texas, where he has secured an excellent
position as manager of a health resort hotel. Mrs.
Frayser, of this city, will soon join her husband in this
new location.

The rezoning of
property at 1926 S. Garrison, the former
Hazletts building, was approved by City
Council during Tuesdays regular meeting.
The rezoning was requested by property owner
Vince Scott, who intends to lease the building to
a restaurant. With the new zoning, the building
tenant will be able to serve alcoholic beverages.
The zoning was changed from "A" First
Dwelling and "D" Local Business to
"E" General Business, which allows for
the sale of alcohol. In addition to the zoning
ordinance, Council also approved an ordinance
which amends the "E" Zoning as a means
of prohibiting the location from being used as a
bar or tavern.

Much citizen
participation was heard on Tuesday, both in
opposition and in favor of the rezoning. Citizen
Kent Neil told Council that he was in favor of
the creation of new businesses, but that he could
not understand rezoning the property for
"unknown purposes." Neil called it
"speculative zoning" and said he felt
it would be acceptable for a business to be
rezoned for a given purpose, but not for the
benefit of an investor.

"The City
should not be in the real estate market to help
the seller," said Kessinger.

Kessinger added
that the zoning was in place to protect the
people, and that it would be more difficult to
reverse the zone change if the building continued
to be unoccupied.

Carthage Chamber
of Commerce President and Economic Development
Director John Bode told Council that it was not
uncommon for a property to be rezoned prior to
leasing.

"The zoning
needs to be ready for the business," said
Bode, adding that many businesses would not
purchase or lease a building if it was not zoned
properly for the intended use.

At the previous
reading of the ordinance Dick Largent, a
representative for Vince Scott, said that if the
property was rezoned a privacy fence could be
built to help protect the neighbors from the
lights and noise of a restaurant. Largent also
spoke of imposing a percentage split between food
sales and liquor sales.

Largent reiterated
these compromises on Tuesday, saying that a 60%
food/30% alcohol or 70/30% split would be
acceptable. These conditions were verbally agreed
upon but were not written in the proposal.

Citizen Ivan Hager
voiced the opinion that if the compromises were
met, that he would not oppose the rezoning. But
Hager expressed concerns that the compromise was
not in writing.

"The bill
tonight doesnt provide for any
agreements," said Hager.

During the
ordinance discussion, Council member Diane
Sharits requested that the ordinance amending the
zoning restrictions be voted upon prior to the
ordinance rezoning the property, so that the
record would show the changes to the
"E" zoning as established before the
rezoning of the property. Council agreed and
approved the amendments to the "E"
zoning in a 9 to 1 vote. Council member Tom
Flanigan opposed the amendment.

During the reading
of the subsequent rezoning ordinance, several
Council members voiced their opinions. Council
member Bill Welch said he would vote in favor of
the rezoning if the privacy fence was to be
included. Council member Larry Ross said he had
received several calls from citizens hoping for
new restaurants in Carthage, and that he intended
to vote in favor of the zoning change for that
reason.

Council member
Bill Fortune said he intended to vote against the
rezoning. Fortune said he felt the Council had an
obligation to listen to the people who live in
the neighborhood.

Just Jake
Talkin'
Mornin',
Folks often complain about how long it takes ta
get things done when dealin with the
government. Red tape, bureaucrats, and the like.
The fact is, our form a government was
intentionally structured so as ta make things
hard ta change.

In fact
in a lot a cases, its more frustratin
for elected officials to change things than it is
for the rest of us. Course thats why
the system is built the way it is.

Although its easy to
understand wantin to hurry up the process,
even the appearance of public officials
tryin to bypass the normal procedure
typically results in the erosion of public
confidence.

Cards can be played close to
the vest, but even in a friendly game, its
best ta keep your hands above the table.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin.

Sponsored
by:
Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack Talk CarsBy Tom & Ray Magliozzi

I recently saw an article of a
Web site claiming that car owners should pump
their gas in the morning, when its cool
out, instead of the afternoon, when its
hot. The alleged reasoning is that gasoline
expands at higher temperatures and contracts at
lower temperatures, allowing more
"dense" gas to be pumped when its
cold. I personally think this is nonsense,
because gas stored in an underground 500-gallon
tank probably doesnt warm by more than a
few degrees. So, what is the truth to this? -
Richard

RAY: Well, the expansion story
is true, Richard. When gas pumps are calibrated,
theyre set to measure a gallon of gasoline
thats 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

TOM: But when gasoline gats
hotter than that, it expands. So you get less
than a gallons worth of energy for every
gallon you pump. How much less? Well, the most
recent congressional study weve seen found
that the average temperature of gasoline sold in
the United States is almost 65 degrees F. That
means the average Joe is paying an extra 3 cents
a gallon for phantom gasoline.

RAY: What can be done about it?
Well, you can fill up in the middle of the night.
But a better solution would be to use pumps that
compensate for temperature fluctuations. In
Canada, where gasoline is usually COLDER, which
is to the consumers advantage - it was the
gas stations that voluntarily backed a program to
use those pumps. Quelle surprise, as they
say in Quebec!

TOM: But here, where the gas
stations are getting the extra money, they argue
that retrofitting their pumps is too expensive.

RAY: But with the value of the
phantom gasoline sold adding up to more than $2
billion a year now, the pressure on the gas
stations will probably continue to heat up.